Starfish Varadero

The hotel and resort property is gorgeous. The resort grounds are a lot larger than expected for the room capacity.

We got upgraded from our garden view room in the main building to a bungalow right beside the pool. The bungalow was central to all the activities in the resort grounds which was so convenient.

There wasn't too many people sitting by the pool for the mornings which made the pool vibe relaxing and peaceful!

The beach has plenty of lounge chairs and has gorgeous turquoise waters.

The wait staff and the cook were so welcoming and happy to serve. They created a lovely meal experience and were always greeted with a smile.

The entertainment staff did phenomenal! They made sure there was a lovely arrangement of entertainment and activities which made each day fun and exciting.
Andy and Jenny specifically were always making an effort to come by and say hello as well as joke around with us which made the experience memorable.

The performers did incredible! The amount of outfit changes and dances they had to memorize was impressive!

The garden staff were always so
Friendly and engaging in conversation whenever you'd walk by.

The front desk ladies had to help us a few times with the internet and room cards and always did with a smile on their face, regardless the time of day!

The staff at the resort were amazing and definitely helped made the vacation a lovely and relaxing one! [Details]

Bungalow was clean and cozy the staff was amazing. Yahima was wonderful. Lidys was great.
Frank and Yoandris so fun. [Details]

This resort is great! All of the staff are friendly and helpful. The bungalows are clean and comfy. The food was great everywhere [Details]

Beautiful grounds and public areas. I've been to a few resorts in Cuba, this has the potential to be one of the best.
Evening entertainment and the state of the rooms puts it very low in my return list though. [Details]

The safe and toilets need a lot of work [Details]

Lovely vacation!! Amazing staff, food and entertainment! Shout out to the entertainment team for the great evening entertainment! Foam party and beach were our favourite. Have been to this resort 5 times and will be back again very soon. [Details]

Very clean rooms, very friendly people, to me the food was very good. Very good security day and night. The beach is very nice. Very good service at the front desk. I am going back on March 21 for another two weeks !!! I made a lot of friends with Cuban people !!! [Details]

The hotel is very spacious, one of the old great hotels which is now being renovated. There are some areas that do not show well right now but the wonderful people make up for it. Everyone at the hotel was nice, smiling and genuine. They bring in certified fitness instructors so that guests can work out. Yoga was wonderful under the palm trees, Aqua and Zumba was a workout and such fun! A great hotel because of the staff, the space, the beach! [Details]

Loved the resort, beach, staff and activities. They made us feel very welcome and we will definitely go back again. We did a lot of activities and our favourite was the aqua fitness classes in the ocean with Cheryl from Canada! [Details]

We went for a week with a group of friends. Our room was huge and very nice. The beach is gorgeous and we really enjoyed the beach BBQ. We loved doing the water aerbics every day in the ocean with Cheryl - so much fun! Lots of fun at the lobby bar in the evenings. The best part of the resort is the amazing staff. [Details]

This is great resort with lots of activities for kids and adults. The kids club has lots of things for the kids too and allows us adults some free time!

We absolutely loved daily aqua with the entertainment staff - Frank & Cheryl who is from Canada! So much fun & energy! Busy classes too and loved the fact that is was held everyday!

We also did Zumba with Cheryl & the other inst Kathy, who is Cdn as well. Such a great added bonus to the resort.

Lisbey, Rafael, Frank and the Canadian gals - thanks so much! You are all top notch entertainers!!

Gals during day at lobby bar who served me my morning coffee with a smile; front desk staff who were always happy to help and cleaning staff who always greeted you with a smile...thanks!!!

We will return sooner we hope! [Details]

We just returned from another great trip to Cuba. We had upgraded our room and so happy we did. We had such lovely evenings in the lobby bar. The staff there are just the best!

We enjoyed seeing the resident cat walking around greeting the guests. The kids loved him and I think by the size of him he gets lots of treats :)

Thank you to Frank, Lisbey, Rafael of entertainment staff and especially Cheryl from Canada who provided amazing morning aqua classes for us all. What energy! Such a great idea to have Canadian instructors as well as the already awesome Cuban staff.

We cannot wait to return and be received again with such great warming hospitality from the ladies at the front desk! [Details]

We visited (my wife and I) Cuba about six years ago, different resort though. Travelled with friends this time, and requested a room fairly close to them. Check in was easy. Got only one key for the room, but would have liked two (one for each of us for convenience). Unable to get second key for entire stay.
Room was in newer section (8316- 8th building, 3rd floor, room 16).
Noticed right away that there was no actual deadbolt on the door. There was absolutely no hot water (cold) for a shower on check in and again in the morning. The smell of sewer started up the next morning. Went to speak to front desk about the issues. They assured us that the water issue and sewer smell would be taken care of that day. If not, we would look at changing rooms, or upgrading to a bungalow if available. Never did.
The entire vacation, lukewarm water, and occasional milder sewer smell.
Personally, I think staying in a bungalow would have been better. Our requested superior garden view room overlooked roof tops from the room, and in the hallway out front.
Food was decent, but no milk, no butter a few days. Recommend that you bring specific items ie/ butter, condiments and anything else, just in case. Unfortunate to have to do this, but expect that Cuba has many shortages.
Bring many $1 USD for tipping, even to go use toilets everywhere off resort. They appreciate CAD and USD. Donations of items they greatly appreciate.
While Cuba is an affordable place to go, it is not for everyone. Beautiful place to visit though. Walking the beach and going into the ocean was perfection!
If I ever returned to Cuba, perhaps I would book a resort closer to, or even in town. [Details]

Not what I expected [Details]

Just spent 9 days in Varadero, Cuba and the Royalton Hicacos. What an amazing trip!! Staff is just absolutely amazing, caring and kind.The reception, spirits bar, sizzlers and buffet staff are great! And these are just some of the people that made my trip worth it. I will definitely be coming back I was happy to see that canadian, Cheryl Ponee. Her fitness classes help keep me fit during my vacation, I was not expecting that. She is so energetic and her classes are always fun. Looking forward to my next trip here. [Details]

Wow! This place is amazing. We had so much fun on the beach and at the pools. This hotel also has the best staff. Andy William and Yoandris showed us a great time. [Details]

Our family came her for vacation 10 years ago so we decided to make a trip back. The hotel is even better now and the staff are the kindest people ever! We did many fun activities on the beach! Special thanks to Andy William and yoandris for teaching us the Cuban salsa! [Details]

We just returned from family vacation at Starfish for New Years. We had a great room in superior section. My kids enjoyed feeding the piano cat who is a regular at lobby bar in the evening. So nice the hotels has this for the kids. he is well taken care of.

For activities, our highlight was aqua Zumba daily with Cheryl from Canada. My kids couldn't wait to do it as well. She made it so fun with great songs and so much energy. The entertainment staff joined in with her so tons of energy which the guests loved! We have never been to a resort with a Canadian instructor so this was a highlight for us.

Front desk ladies couldn't do enough to help us and were very patient as it was quite busy. The 2 regular ladies in day at lobby bar were fantastic. Always knew what we wanted and had drinks ready.

We had a great family vacation! [Details]

We had a great vacation at this hotel. Lots of things for the kids to do and they loved the beach.

I joined in on aqua Zumba daily with Cheryl from Canada and my daughter, who is 6, couldn't wait to do it with me everyday! What a surprise to have a Canadian instructor there and quite the pleasure.

Lots of walking on this resort which was fine for us. The grounds are beautiful and staff always greeting you with a smile :)

Shout out to front desk ladies who couldn't be more helpful!

Thanks everyone at Starfish and Cheryl for making our vacation! [Details]

We just returned and can honestly say we will be back this winter. From the front desk staff to lobby bar gals, to the chefs at sizzlers….all were great and always greeted us with a smile.

To be honest and to our surprise, the highlight was having a pro fitness instructor from Canada there ….Cheryl. Her aqua zumba was phenomenal!! We chatted with her and she travels to resorts teaching lots of fitness and she is an asset to the Starfish entertainment team ! Her energy and enthusiasm was just contagious!!

Also thanks to our maid who always greeted us with a great big HOLA! Room was perfect. Lots of walking which we didn't mind. [Details]

I am not one with super high standards, and travelling to Cuba, I knew what to expect. I was there for the sun and beaches and to relax for a week. Unfortunately, the service was almost non existent- I was hung up on when I called customer service as they said “no, you speak English”. Things we were told would be open or available never were. Staff didn't seem to care or to even do the bare minimum most of the time. The grounds are okay, the beach is beautiful. Our room was decent- we booked a bungalow as we travelled as a family of 4. It was plenty spacious, it was never very clean, and everyday our fridge got unplugged when it was cleaned. The curtains were falling off the track and the sheets were all stained and dirty.

The food options were the same everyday, and the restaurants while they have different themes (itialian, international) all serve the same food. [Details]

We really like the ocean and the beach. Especially, we would like to thank Titita for her great job entertaining people every day. [Details]

This was our very first time in Cuba, first time in Starfish Varadero and we had such a great time! Everyone from the front desk agents, to housekeeping, to servers, to entertainment staff and a special shoutout to Yeney, what a beautiful soul and very energetic, very welcoming! She's one of the reasons why our vacation is memorable and definitely won't be the last time! [Details]

Everybody in the hotel especially Yeny and Alex(DJ) made the stay and the experience unforgettable. We weren't sure what to expect but because of her it was a lot more fun for our vacation especially every night because she's a great entertainer. The rooms were always catered very well, and the staff takes care of us and our needs efficiently. We will definitely come back here the next time we come back to Cuba. [Details]

3rd time at this hotel! Rooms are very clean, the food was great and the staff is amazing!!!! Can't wait to go back [Details]

Everything was good until the last day.
We left our luggage in the storage room for one hour and in the airport my wife found that her perfume was stolen.
Don't leave your luggage in the storage room!!!! [Details]

This was our third visit this year and can't stress enough how great this hotel is, very clean and safe hotel, grounds are beautiful, rooms very clean and functional and spacious, the beach is gorgeous, pool as well, all the staff are very helpful and very friendly, the food is the best I've had in Cuba and we have been going to Cuba for over 20 years several times a year, drinks are good as well, entertainment team is great, many thanks to all the staff from front desk to gardeners, special thanks to GM Jaime Capo for making our vacation super special, and always engaging with guests making sure all is fine
We will definitely return and we highly recommend this hotel [Details]

Been at this hotel several times and keeps getting better
Everything and everyone is great, clean spacious and functional rooms, food and drinks beyond my expectations very good, pool very clean, entertainment team great, service amazing, beach beautiful, people very nice polite and friendly
I highly recommend this hotel and will return
Special thanks to all the staff and especially GM Jaime Capo for making our stay super special
See you soon [Details]

I had a great time at the Starfish Varadero! Great beach, pool area and the friendliest of staff. If you are an easy-going traveler and don't get hung up on minor inconveniences, this is the resort for you. [Details]

From the moment we arrived until we left, we found the staff incredibly friendly and helpful! The Covid measures taken made us feel safe and comfortable. The resort was kept clean and I had the best time. I hated to leave! [Details]